3D city technology offers glimpse into future

Eric Wittner, a lead software engineer at global Geographic Information System (GIS) technology giant Esri, is in Australia to unveil CityEngine – a technology that enables users to see how cities will look as they grow and develop.

Mr Wittner, who will be delivering a keynote at Ozri 2012, said many Australian urban centres, including Sydney and Melbourne, already had the geographic data needed to start generating detailed 3D digital cities with the technology.

“This new generation of smart 3D GIS enables us to represent, design, build and develop with clarity and understanding,” Mr Wittner said. “For the first time, we can do more than just speculate on the alternate futures of our cities… this technology gives us the ability to depict, visualise, and assess the future to find the best possible design.

“The city models created by CityEngine can be used to assess heat island effects of yet unbuilt developments, as well as visualise their impact on the existing skyline from multiple points of view.

While in the country for Ozri, Mr Wittner will be conducting demonstrations of the technology, showing users how to easily build virtual 3D cities, visualise change, and conduct powerful analysis at previously unseen levels of detail.

Hosted by Esri Australia, the market leader in Australia’s $2.1bn spatial industry, Ozri 2012 is the largest GIS conference in the Asia Pacific region.

For more information visit:  www.esriaustralia.com.au/ozri